This Thing You Call Fun
by SaltyJak
Summary: It wasn't that she didn't know how to have fun, she just had a different idea as to what constituted fun. Perhaps Timmy and Chester could show a certain red-head just what she was missing out on.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I _know_ , another story by SaltyJak, how strange. I once heard that happy people-truly happy people-don't write good stories. Dunno how much truth there is to that, but getting my heart broken has certainly gotten the creative juices flowing... Oh! Maybe I should get my heart broken more often- ...Nevermind.

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"Jeez. Do his parents _ever_ do anything but go on vacation?" The red-headed girl let her phone slip out of her hand, letting it absently fall and land on the passenger seat of her car with a muffled 'thump'. "I keep this up, and the kid'll probably know my name better than he knows the words 'Mom' or 'Dad'..." Vicky sighed and rested her chin on the steering wheel. "Still... I guess I shouldn't complain. All those vacations _does_ mean more money for me..."

She'd met Timmy Turner; a brunet-haired almost-teenager with comically large buck teeth, inquisitive bright blue eyes, and an odd habit of wearing pink shirts, just over four years ago, when she was fourteen, and he eight. Their first interaction... Had gone pretty much the same as it always did when she took on a new client. Give the parents(and usually the kid) that nausea-inducing sugary facade, act like the most perfect little angel in the world, make them think you could do no wrong, and then, once the parents left...

Pull the rug right out from underneath the kid. She'd make them squirm, put the fear of herself into them, threaten them, yell, force them to do chores, turn them into her little servants. And of course, make sure they knew that she had absolute control over them. Soon as the parents returned, put up that little sweetie pie act, maybe blame something being broken or some chore not being done on the kid, and she was golden. Parents blamed the kid, she got a bonus for their child's 'unruly' behavior, and was always hired on again, due to Dimmsdale's strange lack of other babysitting services(which totally wasn't her doing).

The first two years had gone by quite swimmingly, in her opinion. Timmy, or 'the Twerp', as she liked to call him, _seemed_ like just another dumb kid. Easily controlled and manipulated to do whatever she asked. Sure, there was the occasional hiccup along the way every now and again, but for the most part, the boy was just another pawn in her hand. Maybe not unwitting, and certainly not pleased with the turn his still short life had taken, but a pawn nonetheless.

Yet... It didn't quite last. Fast forward to her little 'pawn' being ten, with herself being sixteen, and she noticed a gradual but marked change in the Twerp. Sure, she still had his parents wrapped around her finger, but he slowly began to do things-just little things-that no kid in her care had ever been brave(or crazy, she knew he wasn't stupid) enough to do: Defy her. Never outright, or even in front of people, but when it was just the two of them, he'd try to argue with her, tell her she wasn't being fair, or that she was being evil for no reason.

Who ever said she needed a reason? The same imaginary idiot who said life was fair?

The first time, it had caught her off guard. He was the first(and only, she made sure of that) to question her actions, likely because she'd never had any reason to question them herself. Yet something in her face must have scared him after he said it, because as soon as the words left the brunet's mouth, he almost immediately shrank back like she was going to slap him and went to do his appointed task.

The second time, she was ready, and his questioning was met with a glare. What right did this kid think he had to question her authority over him? A thinly veiled threat of flushing his two goldfish down the toilet was all that was needed to turn him pale as a ghost and make him subservient once more.

The third time... She almost lost her temper. The Twerp _again_ asked her what her problem was, why she treated him so poorly. It wasn't as if he got special treatment! She treated all the kids she babysat the same! ...It just so happened that Timmy's parents were her most well-paying clients, as well as the clients who needed her to come over the most. 'Business' meetings and all that...

At any rate, the third time he tried to go against her... Her day had already not been going well, with her parents forgetting her birthday, so she... Might've been on edge. In hindsight, it probably would've been wise to tell the Twerp to just leave her alone... But she didn't. Instead, Timmy had started another argument, one she was in _no_ mood for, so she grabbed him by the collar of his pink shirt and lifted him off the floor, momentarily surprising herself due to how light he was...

"Mmph..." Vicky released a groan, muffled as it was due to her mouth being pressed into her forearm, which now lay across the top of the steering wheel. She was only a few hundred feet from the Turners' house, and now drove just barely over five miles per hour. _"This is why I hate driving over here myself, too much time to think..."_ The red-head inwardly frowned at herself. She wasn't fond of taking the blame for things, not even- ... _Especially_ when she was clearly the one at fault. That third time had been the first time she'd laid a hand on the ten year old. It was doubtful that she'd done any physical harm, but emotionally? It was more than evident that her action had terrified him. There were no arguments for several weeks after that, and for a while, it seemed like there wouldn't be anymore... All over her simply picking him up into the air...

But, of course, defiant people are always going to be just that: defiant. Roughly three months after that incident, Timmy again argued with her, outright calling her the most evil person he'd ever met...

Which she assumed was supposed to hurt her feelings, but Vicky took it in stride, and as a compliment no less! She did not, however, put her hands on the brunet, there were certain lines she knew better than to cross(when she was thinking rationally), so they merely argued for a bit, until she won out, and he went back to his chores.

Fast forward... About a year and a half later, right around a month before Timmy's twelfth birthday. By that point, she'd lost count of how many times the brunet had argued with her, called her out on her mannerisms, and at times, simply asked her with no real malice, _why_ she was the way she was. Naturally, she didn't have an answer, not for him, anyway. Maybe not even for herself. Her mother and father certainly garnered a fair share of the blame, and some could even be attributed to her little annoying sister, Tootie, though such reasons were outside the raven-haired girl's control.

Either way, the kid wasn't her therapist. Good reason for her actions or no, it came down to whether he _deserved_ a good reason from her, which he didn't, as far as she was concerned. Still... His defiant personality had held out for two years, and showed no real signs of stopping, so she did admire that about him. Not to mention that, at some point, the arguments between them became... Interesting. Some part of her liked being able to butt heads with someone, since everyone else would shrink back, give up and let her win. In the brunet, she saw; for lack of a better term, a worthy opponent.

 _Bzz!_

"Ah yes, the Turners must be excited to leave their 'darling angel' in the hands of his 'wonderful babysitter'!" Vicky mocked Timmy's mother as she looked at her phone, now buzzing to indicate she had a text from the aforementioned woman, likely questioning if the red-head's car was parked in the driveway yet(it was). "Wonder how long they'll ask me to stay _this_ time..." She shoved her car door open and stepped out, grabbing a black backpack out of the backseat as she did.

Her stays at the Turner household had been steadily increasing in duration as Timmy got older, and with him being twelve now, she usually had to stay the night, sometimes two. This didn't make much difference to the red-head, however, as she was finished with high school. And, as said before, it meant more money for her.

The front door of the Turner household suddenly burst open, the two people who came running out evidently just _waiting_ for their son's babysitter to arrive. "Oh Vicky! You made it!" Mrs. Turner beamed at Vicky as she rushed toward her.

The eighteen year old took a single precautionary step backward, expecting the older woman to tackle her, shutting her eyes as she braced herself for the impact.

Only to feel a light breeze rush past her.

" _What the...?"_ She cracked her right eye open and glanced around, quickly following it with her left. The front door to the house was still open, but there was no sign of Timmy's parents, not until Vicky heard a couple of car doors shut behind her, making the girl spin around to face the Turner's old station wagon. "Mrs. Turn-" Vicky found herself interrupted by a wad of cash landing at her feet.

The brunette-haired older woman waved as her husband started the car. "Thank you again for keeping an eye on Timmy! We should be back on Monday, you two have fun!"

Before Vicky could respond, the blue station wagon sped out of the driveway in reverse(narrowly missing her own car in the process), and tore off down the street, ignoring any and all traffic signs as it disappeared from view. "...Am I gonna enjoy going on vacation _that much_ at their age?" The pink-eyed girl shrugged as she stooped down to pick up and pocket the wad of dollar bills at her feet. With how much she'd made from babysitting over the years, she really didn't _need_ such an exorbitant amount of cash just to keep an eye on Timmy for a couple of nights, but... "Can never have enough money!" Vicky smirked at her payment as she transferred it to her backpack. "Now... Let's see what the Twerp is up to!"

She spun around on her heel, hands stuffed into the pockets of her black jeans, and slowly; almost lazily, made her way across the Turner's front lawn and steps, doing her best to look nonchalant and neutral as she took each step. Yet despite her best efforts, she could feel the corners of her mouth tugging up ever so slightly, unconsciously forming a small grin on the red-head's face.

Upon finally entering the house, Vicky shut the door behind her with her foot, then tossed her backpack of 'supplies'(and money) onto the recliner chair. She moved toward the couch, intending to assume her usual lying down position to watch some TV... Only to stop dead in her tracks as she turned her head to look at the couch directly, her eyes quickly becoming filled with confusion.

The couch was still there... But the cushions had been turned up on their sides to form a wall between the two arms, and there was a blanket thrown over the top of the crudely made fort, keeping her from seeing inside. She took another step forward, coming close enough that she could now hear whispers coming from inside the couch-fort. _"Sounds like the Twerp... And... Someone else? Who could he be talking to? His fish again?"_

She'd caught Timmy talking to his fish on occasion, though it really didn't bother her much. For a twelve year old, it seemed pretty normal, she certainly talked to her own pets when she was his age(never her fish though, she didn't have any).

At the same time though, why would he talk to his goldfish in a pillow fort he made on the couch? It seemed unnecessary, considering he could just talk to them in his room... And why did he have to occupy _her_ couch?! It wasn't as if she ever came into his room and decided she'd use _his_ TV, or _his_ game systems, or _his_ bed!

" _...Lately..."_ "Ugh. Alright Twerp, you can continue your therapy session with your fish in your room." Vicky stepped forward and snatched the edge of the blanket, yanking it off the top of the couch. "When I'm here, the couch is mi-" Again, the red-head was cut off mid-sentence, though it was by her own surprise, rather than Timmy's mother.

As the blanket fell to the floor, a pair of blue eyes stared up at the eighteen year old... Blue eyes of a boy with a blond head of hair.

Vicky narrowed her eyes at the boy sitting cross-legged on the couch, across from whom was Timmy, whose attention was still focused on some comic book sitting between the two pre-teens, a flashlight held in the brunet's hand to ease their reading in the darkness of their couch-fort. "...Braces? What are you doing here?"

The boy known as Chester McBadbat immediately froze up under his babysitter's scrutinizing gaze, his eyes going wide as his pupils shrank to accommodate the sudden influx of light. The boy slowly edged himself backward, until he collided with the side of the couch behind him. "Uh... Heheh..." Chester gulped, his eyes quickly darting between his best friend; still more interested in the comic book than their evil babysitter, and the pink-eyed girl herself, who was now watching him like a hawk. "Ah... D-dude...? Timmy? We've... Got company...?"

The brunet's eyes never left his latest issue of the Crimson Chin as he made a noncommittal noise and nonchalantly waved off both Chester's worry, and the red-head's presence. "Hey Vicky."

"Twerp." Vicky quickly glanced over at Timmy as she acknowledged him by her preferred moniker for the boy, then refocused her attention on Chester, who she could tell was now sweating bullets. "Much as I hate to interrupt... What I'm gonna assume is some sort of male bonding session, I'd like an answer, Blondie. Why are you here?" It was at this point that she realized just _why_ the Turner's had given her such a large amount of money. Timmy's friend was visiting, and probably staying the night, since he and Timmy were both out of school for summer vacation.

"I- I was... The new issue-" Chester pointed at the comic book that still held his best friend's rapt attention. "Me and Timmy... Were..." The blond trailed off, evidently still incapable of forming coherent sentences around his babysitter.

"Uh-huh. Well said." Vicky rolled her eyes at this boy, supposedly Timmy's best friend, yet so completely different. 'Blondie' hadn't changed much since the last time she babysat him, which was a few months earlier. Apparently Mister McBadbat either could no longer afford her services, or felt that Chester didn't need a babysitter anymore. _"Probably the former."_ "Twerp? Move. Babysitter needs couch badly." She shifted onto her elbow on the arm of the couch and held her head up as she looked down at Timmy, somehow _still_ engrossed with his newest comic book.

"What if I..." The brunet began as he looked over his shoulder, bright blue eyes meeting bored pink ones. "Let you read the latest issue of the Crimson Chin?" Timmy playfully raised an eyebrow at Vicky. "Then could we keep the fort standing?"

" _You're pushing your luck, Twerp."_ Vicky thought as she narrowed her eyes at Timmy, who winked at her, making sure that while she saw it, Chester; who now bore a look of what she could only assume was a mix of horror and betrayal at the brunet's suggestion, did not. _"Ah..."_ She stifled a giggle, knowing Timmy was expecting her to play along. "Hm... I _might_ be willing to go along with that..." Vicky scratched her chin, pretending to give Timmy's offer some thought. "But that would mean letting your _evil_ babysitter into your fort..."

Timmy, not missing a beat, turned around to face his babysitter, placing his hands on either side of her elbow as he peeked over the side of the couch. "Well... You could always ask to come in...? Couldn't hurt, right?"

" _Aren't_ you _the one asking_ me _for something? Like not taking the couch back?"_ Vicky rolled her eyes again, but opted to continue to play along. "Do you two think you could make room for one more in there?"

"Timmy-" Chester began to speak up.

"Sorry-" Only to be cut off by his best friend, who stuck his hand over to his right, then brought it back, now holding a piece of notebook paper that he held up between himself and the red-head.

Vicky stared in wonderment at the sheet of paper, upon which was scrawled three stylized words written in what looked to be black marker.

(NO GIRLS ALLOWED)

The living room fell deadly quiet as Timmy shot the older girl a cheeky grin, while Chester simply facepalmed, likely expecting his best friend's life to come to an end at any second.

"Really?" Vicky deadpanned at her charge, who merely nodded in response. "You've got three seconds, then I'm flipping this couch and using _you_ as a cushion. One..."

Upon hearing Vicky's words, Chester scrambled off the couch, grabbing the comic book and flashlight as he did, then ran past the red-head and up the stairs, disappearing out of sight.

" _Yup, still got it."_ Vicky mused to herself happily as she heard Timmy's bedroom door shut, but made sure to keep her expression neutral as she continued to stare at Timmy. "Two~"

The brunet raised an eyebrow, it now being his turn to ask 'really?' as he watched the eighteen year old crack her knuckles threateningly. "Not like you're really gonna-"

"Three!" Vicky interrupted with a yell as she leapt forward, over the arm of the couch and into Timmy, tackling him down onto the couch.

"Ack! What are you- Ah! S-Sto-o-op!" The brunet giggled as he felt Vicky's fingers lightly scratch and run over his sides. "N-No tickling in the fo-o-o-rt! Hahah!"

"Brought this on yourself, Twerp. Shoulda just given me back my couch like I asked. Now I have to punish you for insubordination!" A wide grin formed on the red-head's face as the twelve year old pinned beneath her struggled in vain to escape. "And what kind of fort doesn't allow girls?! I bet you'd let Tootie in, if she were here!"

"Aha- No! I swea-ehe-r! Vicky-y-y! Stop!" Timmy blindly grasped at Vicky's wrists in an attempt to make her stop tickling him, but only succeeded in keeping her hands right where they were.

"Oh? You want me to _stop_? ...Okay, but only if you ask _very_ nicely~" The pink-eyed let out a small giggle herself at how desperate the boy sounded. "C'mon, Twerp. Say _please_."

"Aghah! P-plea- Please! Heehee!" Timmy managed to get out as he felt tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"Ugh, fine." Vicky ceased her hands' movements and gently pulled them away, then crossed her arms over her chest as she shifted her gaze over toward the TV. _"Wonder how much of my show I missed..."_ It didn't occur to her that she was still practically sitting on top of Timmy until she felt two hands exerting a light pressure on her stomach.

"C-C'mon! Get off! I'm gonna get cooties at this rate!" The brunet whined out as he continued to press his palms into Vicky's abdomen, going so far as to wiggle his own fingers and try to tickle her.

The older girl didn't even flinch at his attempts as she glanced down and to her left at him. "See, this is why I'll always win these. I'm not ticklish."

"Everyone's ticklish!" Timmy shot back childishly as he resumed his attempts at just trying to push his babysitter off of him. "I just haven't found your ticklish spot, that's all! Now... Get... Off! I never agreed to be a couch cushion for your big butt!"

"Hmph, brat." Vicky pushed the couch cushions over and at last moved off Timmy. "Come on, get outta there so I can put these things back." She reached down, offering her hand to the brunet, which he gratefully took. "Ugh!" Vicky groaned in exertion as she pulled the boy out of the couch and to his feet. "And you say _I_ have a big butt? You're getting too fat for this, Twerp."

Timmy recoiled from her grasp and jumped back a few feet, a hurt look on his face. "Hey! I am not fat! I just weigh more because I'm getting muscles!" The pre-teen flexed his right arm and pointed at the barely-there bump of muscle the action formed.

"Wow. I'm so impressed right now." Vicky spoke in a sarcastic and mildly condescending tone, though she _did_ find Timmy's poor attempts to impress her somewhat amusing.

The boy's triumphant grin quickly turned into a skeptical frown as he narrowed his eyes at the girl. "You don't _sound_ very impressed..."

"Probably because I'm not." She admitted with a grin of her own, making Timmy visibly deflate from his previously confident pose. "To be fair, I _do_ have really high standards, and you're a bit young for me."

"Huh? A bit young for... Agh! I wasn't- It's not like I'm trying to impress _you_!" Despite the look of horror now etched on his face, a light dusting of pink bloomed across Timmy's cheeks at what his babysitter was implying. "I was just proving that I'm not fat, I weigh more because I've got muscles!"

"Uh-huh. Sure you weren't, Twerp." Vicky nodded as she spoke in a skeptical tone.

To Vicky, it seemed strange to be able to joke around like this with the one of her clients' kids. She'd made a point very early on in her babysitting career to not mix business with pleasure. She believed that the second she let her guard down around one of the kids she babysat, her whole image would be ruined. The news would spread like wildfire, with all the fear and respect she garnered over the years going up in smoke.

So maybe it was his attitude of standing up to her when no other child in her care would, maybe four years of babysitting her 'Twerp' had caused her to warm up to him a little, or maybe she was just getting soft since most of her teenage years were behind her. Whatever the reason was, she and Timmy had a bond of sorts, and while she'd never admit to being friends with one of her charges, she _could_ admit(to herself) that she enjoyed spending her time babysitting him. Even if he could be a brat.

"So what's one-fourth of your posse doing here?" Vicky asked as Timmy began to return the couch cushions to their rightful spots.

"My 'posse'? What happened to 'The Twerp Squad'?" The brunet waited for a response as he slid the cushions back into place, but opted to continue when none came. "Chester likes the Crimson Chin, just like me, AJ, and Tootie. Me and him went to get the newest issue today, and we decided we'd bring it back here to read." Timmy shrugged as he finished putting the couch back together, then turned around to face Vicky. "Is that alright with you?"

That was something else that she liked about Timmy. Even with their... Less than pleasant past interactions, Timmy still showed her a fair amount of respect, often taking her feelings into consideration in many situations. He was a lot more grown up now than when she met him four years ago, and definitely more grown up than ninety percent of kids his age.

Vicky bore a thoughtful expression for several seconds before responding. "Depends."

"On what?"

Vicky quirked an eyebrow up at the boy in front of her. "On what you've told him about me when it's just us." She mentally facepalmed as she realized that sentence could be taken _very_ far out of context.

Timmy instantly broke eye contact and began twiddling his fingers about. "Er... Eheh... Nothing...?"

" _Great."_ Vicky thought in annoyance as she closed her eyes, letting a small sigh escape her lips. "...Alright. What _did_ you tell him? Not that I occasionally pick you up from school, right? Or... That I've helped you out when it came to that gray weirdo? You didn't tell him that I'm sometimes... _Nice_ -" She grimaced as she felt a chill run up her spine. "-Did you?"

"It... Might've come up... One... And a half times..." Timmy began tapping his index fingers together nervously. "B-but it doesn't really matter anyway! Chester-! Doesn't really believe me..."

Vicky hummed in thought as she rubbed the back of her head. _"Suppose that makes sense. Blondie might as well have left a trail of fire up those stairs..."_ "Well good. I've got a reputation to uphold..."

The red-head walked toward, then past Timmy as she dropped down onto the couch and settled herself into a more comfortable position. The boy watched her as she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, briefly wondering if that would be the end of the conversation. "But... Doesn't your 'reputation' make it hard to make friends?"

"Maybe." Vicky shrugged, not quite paying attention to the brunet as she channel-surfed for something good to watch. "That'd only be a problem if I was lookin' to make friends though."

" _I'm_ your friend." Timmy said as he leaned onto the arm of the couch next to his babysitter.

"There's two schools of thought on that."

Timmy couldn't help but roll his eyes at that one. Vicky had the habit of insisting they weren't friends. "Even if _you_ don't want to admit it, I like to think that we are."

The pink-eyed girl let out a small, noncommittal 'eh' noise as she slipped off her sneakers and kicked her legs up onto the couch to lay down on it. "Careful, you keep insisting we're friends and I might start to rub off on you." With her head now resting on the arm of the couch, Vicky turned away from the TV and looked up at Timmy, meeting his blue eyes once more. "Or did you think I wouldn't remember that little wink from earlier? You sure like messing with Blondie, eh Twerp?"

Timmy smirked and glanced away from the red-head's accusatory stare. "I... Kinda forgot that Chester's still pretty terrified of you." He chuckled as the memory of his best friend running up the stairs and slamming the door to _his_ room was pushed to the front of his mind.

"Heheh... With a friend like you..." Vicky trailed off as she turned her head back toward the television. "Might wanna go check on him. With how long you've been gone, he probably thinks I buried you in the couch, and that he'll be next."

"Yeeaahh, probably a good idea." Timmy nodded in agreement as he pushed himself off the couch and made his way over to the stairs. He began to ascend them, and reached about the halfway point before taking pause, his eyes falling on the top of Vicky's head. "Y'know..."

"Hm?" The eighteen year old looked up at Timmy again, now causing him to appear upside down on the stairs due to her position.

"I dunno how much of a fan you are of the Crimson Chin and comic books, but if you want to... Maybe play some video games later... I do have three controllers...?" The brunet spoke in a hopeful tone, though he struggled to maintain eye contact with his babysitter. _"She's probably gonna tease me for asking that..."_

Timmy was perfectly aware of the strangeness of his friendship with Vicky, the girl who habitually went out of her way to make his life miserable. Up until a few months ago, he'd do anything for even a few minutes away from her, and usually did just that by way of his fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda. At twelve years old, he'd journeyed to so many different places and times, it had begun to prove difficult to keep track of them.

Many of those adventures had simply started because of nothing more than a wish to escape the red-head, so how hypocritical it must've seemed for him to be _asking_ this girl, whom he once thought was so evil, to hang out with him like they were besties. And despite his age, the irony of it all was not completely lost on Timmy.

Vicky glanced back over at the TV as she took a moment to consider Timmy's offer. "Ah... I don't think I'd be that much fun if we played a game right now. I'm pretty bushed after today..." She looked back over to him. "Maybe-"

Only to meet the brunet's big blue eyes staring her down from the stairs, their owner doing his best to mimic an endearing puppy dog's look. "Please~?"

" _There is_ no _reason that look should affect me the way it does."_ The eighteen year old thought in annoyance. She wanted to just lie around all day, order some food for dinner, and maybe watch a bad horror flick...

Except hanging out with the brunet like they really were friends had a strange draw to it. Likely because of her own lack of a social life and, by extension, her own friends. _"Although... If Blondie decides to stick around, hanging out with him and Timmy might be interesting... If only because it means I get to make him squirm...!"_ Vicky's lips curled up into an evil smirk. "You _really_ want your evil babysitter to come hang out with you and your friend who's terrified of her?"

Timmy smiled excitedly at his babysitter, realizing he'd all but convinced her to come hang out with him and Chester. "Yeah! You're awesome at a lot of my games, and... and... We could... Team up against Chester! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Vicky couldn't help but giggle at her Twerp's childish excitement. Yes, he could be a brat, and a _huge_ pain in her ass at times, but he evidently looked up to her quite a bit, in addition to the fact that he respected her, and _wanted_ to hang out with her. _"Kid makes me feel less like a friend, and more like an older sister sometimes..."_ "Hah... Alright, you've convinced me. Gimme an hour to relax, get some food in my belly, and I'll come up."

"Really?! Sweet! I'll go and get everything set up, thanks Vicky!"

The eighteen year old red-head watched as Timmy disappeared up the stairs, waiting until he was out of sight before shaking her head and facepalming to hide the massive grin on her face. "Can't believe how cute that Twerp can be..."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Bit late, bit short, so I'm doing a double upload. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and being patient, everyone. :D

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Timmy turned the knob of his bedroom door and entered his room, a wide grin across his face. "Hey Co-! Ah-Ahem..." The brunet caught himself at the last second, his hands near-instantly clapping over his mouth as he nonchalantly cleared his throat and searched the room with his eyes.

The teen's eyes darted around in his head, quickly scanning each corner of his room for his best friend before moving on to the next when he found no trace of the blond. His gaze briefly settled on his godparents' fishbowl, within which he saw Wanda, still in goldfish form, barely restraining her husband, who'd already managed to stick his wand in the air in preparation to poof into his fairy form.

"Er..." _"Holy crap that was close."_ Timmy sighed in relief, his heart now racing a mile a minute from having almost revealed the existence of his fairies. "Ch-Chester? You... Still in here?"

"T-Timmy?" Chester's head and arms popped out from under the bed as he looked up at his brunet-haired friend.

"What are you doing...?" Timmy shook his head back and forth and facepalmed.

"What's it look like? I'm hiding from Vicky!" The blond tween looked up and down at his friend(as much as his current position allowed). "How are you- Did you get away form her? I heard a lot of screaming, and it sounded like Vicky was laughing! I thought she was torturing you or something!" Chester hesitantly crawled out from under Timmy's bed once his bedroom door was closed, then reached back under to grab the comics he'd ran away with.

" _Right. Torture..."_ Timmy crossed his arms and tilted his head as a thoughtful expression came over his face. _"Should I? Or shouldn't I?"_ The question on Timmy's mind was, of course, whether or not he should tell his best friend that Vicky wasn't quite as evil, unpleasant, or 'Icky' as they once thought. Not to say he ever made much headway with these conversations, as his blond friend tended to think that Vicky had either blackmailed him into telling everyone that she wasn't evil, or that he'd hit his head during the time that Vicky had been babysitting him.

"Yo, Timmy. You... Feeling okay? You look like you..." It was Chester's turn to pause in thought, his hand coming up to cradle his chin. "You've got this really... Intense look on your face, like... Maybe you're hungry or something?"

"No Chester, I'm not hungry- ...Well, not _really_ hungry. And Vicky wasn't torturing me." Timmy reached up and scratched the back of his head as a mild blush rose to his cheeks. "...Not unless you count tickling as a form of torture."

" _Tickling_? Why would _she_ be tickling you?" Chester shot his friend a skeptical look. He certainly didn't _think_ the noises he'd heard were those of someone being tickled. "Did you hit-"

"No Chester, I didn't hit my head." The buck-toothed almost-teen deadpanned at his friend. "Like I was trying to tell you earlier, when we first got here, Vicky isn't that bad, she can just be... A little mean at times."

"You mean like, all the time, right?" Chester now bore a look of uncertainty on his face. These conversations about their babysitter were becoming just slightly more frequent, and the blond was beginning to realize that, if Timmy was indeed suffering this many head injuries, he really shouldn't have been as coherent as he was. "Y'know-" Chester began speaking again, now in a hushed tone. "I already know how Vicky can be, if she's like... Blackmailing you into lying and saying she isn't evil, you can tell me, it isn't like I don't already know how she is..." He took a step closer and brought his hand up to rest on Timmy's shoulder reassuringly.

"Ugh, seriously dude?" Timmy in turn lightly swatted his friend's hand off his shoulder. "I didn't hit my head, I'm not being blackmailed by Vicky, and I'm telling you the _truth_! You haven't even been _around_ Vicky for more than five minutes in _months_! Do you seriously think I'd lie about something like this?"

"Jeez Timmy, alright." Chester raised his hands up in front of him defensively, taking a couple steps backward as he did. "I mean, you're right, Vicky hasn't babysat me in a couple months, so I... Guess I can't be totally sure she hasn't changed... But this is Icky Vicky we're talking about! This Vicky you've been describing to me the past few weeks doesn't sound _anything_ like the girl I literally just saw downstairs, the same one who, y'know, looked like she was about to strangle you for messing up her couch?" Chester's hands dropped back down to his sides, then slipped into his jean pockets. "I'm not calling you a liar, it's just... A little hard to believe, okay?"

"I know it is... There are times when I'm still surprised by it..." Timmy unconsciously let out a relieved-sounding sigh. It appeared he'd finally gotten through to his best friend, and Chester was at last starting to believe him. "She's... I'm not saying she's really nice _all_ the time, I'd be surprised if she did something like brought us to the arcade or an ice cream stand, but she's ordered pizza for me and her, and she even likes video games!"

"So..." The blond's eyebrows became knitted together as he tried to wrap his head around this difficult to understand revelation. Vicky had seemed pretty _not_ nice just a few minutes ago, yet here was Timmy; his best friend, telling him that she was. "You're telling me that Vicky is just... What? Acting? She just _pretends_ to be mean?" The skeptical look from earlier returned to Chester's face. Timmy wasn't the type to lie to him... But this just seemed so unbelievable!

"Yes!" Timmy remarked in a weary tone as he threw his hands up in the air. "What's it gonna take to-" He paused, mouth somewhat agape as he remembered why he'd come back to his room in such a good mood. "You know what?" The brunet snapped his fingers, and idea forming in his mind. "I know exactly how to prove it to you!" Timmy smirked at Chester excitedly.

"Uh-heh... What did... You have in mind?" Chester felt a wave of renewed nervousness wash over him. For the first time since he'd met the brunet standing in front of him, Chester McBadbat was a little worried at the thought of Timmy's 'idea'.

 _Meanwhile..._

Vicky laid on the couch, her position unchanged from how Timmy had left her. It had already been a little over twenty minutes since he'd gone upstairs, and to her annoyance, she'd missed a significant portion of her favorite show due to her conversation with the brunet, not to mention their one-sided tickle fight. _"What was I thinking, agreeing to go up there and hang out with those two? Of course the Twerp wants to hang out with me, he practically treats me like his older sister or something these days... But Blondie... Either Timmy'll try to convince him that I'm not that bad..."_ Vicky heard her stomach release a low grumble, and swung her legs off the couch to sit up in response. _"Or he won't, and the kid'll be terrified of me for the rest of the day..."_

She stood up from the couch and made her way toward the kitchen, nudging the unlatching door open with her foot. "Hm... I forgot to ask how long he's even gonna be here... He might be sleeping over, for all I know..." The red-head strode over to the fridge and yanked the door open. _"Suppose I_ could _cook for those two..."_ Her eyes drifted upward, eventually settling on the door to the freezer, upon which were several take-out menus, stuck to the door with magnets. _"Buuuutttt... Considering my options..."_ Vicky remembered the fat wad of cash currently burning a hole through the lining of her backpack. It wasn't like she was _hurting_ for cash... Not in the least, actually.

"So... Decisions, decisions..." She flipped through the various menus affixed to the freezer door. _"Chinese? Nah, Blondie's dad probably gets that for them every night for dinner. Seafood?"_ Vicky felt her stomach turn in response. _"Right, last time I ordered from there, I got food poisoning. Once is enough."_ She snatched the menu for 'Cappy's Seafood' off the freezer and tossed it into the trash. "Don't want the Twerp getting sick because his parents are dumb..." _"Aw! You_ do _care!"_ She made a mental self-deprecating jab at herself and shook her head.

A few more menu flips later, and the red-head had narrowed her choices down to two... Or one, really. The only reason she held two was because she couldn't quite believe one of the menus was real. "Since when does Nasty Burger _deliver_?! Are people too lazy to go through a damn drive-thru?!" Vicky couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment at her own species. "Pizza Palace it is."

The red-head moved to the kitchen table and sat down, menu in hand. "Right, so... Timmy likes pretty much anything-" _"Except vegetables..."_ "And Blondie likes... Damn. What _does_ he like?" Vicky _had_ been looking at the subs that were on the menu, but soon found her eyes drifting over toward the restaurant's namesake: Pizza.

"I _really_ should just go up and ask... But then Braces'll see that I'm not evil, which would make him... Argh! Why am I overthinking this?!" Vicky scratched her scalp in annoyance. Part of her wanted to keep up the evil babysitter facade, maybe get one last torture session in with Timmy and his friend. But another part of her was interested in the challenge her Twerp had unknowingly created. He told her that Chester didn't believe him when he said she had changed, so getting pizza and hanging out with the two tweens would surely prove that she wasn't so evil... Right?

"So this is what my life has come to..." Vicky hung her head over the back of the chair, chuckling humorlessly at herself. "Talking to myself in the Turners' kitchen while thinking about hanging out with their twelve year old son and his friend, and buying _pizza_ for them... Where did it all go wrong?" She brought her right hand up, letting the back of it come to rest on her forehead as if to swoon in a melodramatic fashion. "What would my friends think?" Vicky opened her phone's contacts list, which contained only a few of her clients' numbers, Tootie's number, and of course, Timmy's. "Oh wait. I don't have any." She rolled her eyes, then dialed the number on the menu. "Hi, I'd like to place a delivery order..."

 _Back upstairs..._

"Food?" Timmy held a plate of nachos in his hand as he stood in front of the couch, blocking the view of the blond still anxiously sitting in it.

"Ah... Thanks." Chester gratefully took the plate, setting it down on the cushion between himself and the one that had held his best friend up until a few minutes ago. His eyes drifted around the brunet's room, occasionally stopping on some of the more expensive-looking items. "Dude, I gotta ask, how do you afford all this crazy-awesome stuff?" The blond knew Timmy's parents didn't spend much time at home, so that would have to mean they _did_ give him an allowance. _"But... Who's buying all the stuff? Vicky?"_

"Er... Y'know... Internet?" Timmy dropped back into his place on the couch, suddenly feeling just a little nervous about Chester's impromptu line of questioning.

"I _know_ the internet. That's where you get literally _everything_ I ask you about..." Chester grabbed one of the nachos off the plate, frowning as the still-molten cheese and toppings slid off it. "But like, _who_ gets it for you? Neither of us are really old enough to have credit cards... Or even bank accounts!" The blond reached for another chip, this time more carefully to keep from losing its toppings.

"Eh... My parents get me... Some stuff..." The brunet quickly looked around the room, hoping to find some sort of distraction to get him out of this situation. "And uh... Vicky does too...?" The lie came out as more of a question than a statement.

"She _does_?!" Chester gaped at Timmy in complete disbelief at what he was being told. First his best friend was trying to tell him that their _definitely_ evil babysitter wasn't evil, and now he was trying to say that, not only was she fun to be around, but that she _bought_ him things off the internet?! "N-No, hang on just a sec." He leaned over toward the plate of nachos between them, laying the back of his right hand flat against the couch cushion it occupied.

"Chester? What're you-"

"Ah! Let me just see something..." Chester slid his hand under the still-hot plate of food, palm against the underside. "Gah!" Then near-instantly yanked his hand out from under it. "Wow that's hot!"

"Uh... Well, yeah. It was in the microwave for a few minutes, so..."

"No, I was just- Y'know how when you're not sure if you're in a dream, you're supposed to pinch yourself?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Well I figured I'd try that, since everything you've said to me today has been coming out as crazy-talk." The blond shook his hand back and forth in the air, then blew on it, doing his best to cool it off.

"So why not just pinch yourself? Or ask me to pinch you-?"

"I do not always think my plans through! You want a plan that makes sense? Talk to Brainiac!" Chester pointed an accusing finger at Timmy, before shortly afterward resuming his attempt to cool his hand. "But... If I just got burnt from this plate... That means I _must_ be awake..." _"Now I just gotta figure out if Timmy's telling the truth, or messing with me for... I don't even know why!"_

"Okay, you're officially ridiculous." Timmy pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is it really so hard to believe that Vicky isn't evil?"

"Well, she _did_ just threaten to turn you into a couch cushion about an hour ago, and you _were_ down there for a pretty long time, _and_ she's been torturing us for _four_ years! Wouldn't you be a little suspicious if you were me?" Chester shrugged, a sad, weary look on his face. The blond certainly didn't _enjoy_ suggesting his friend was lying to him, but the facts were the facts. The evil red-head they feared for so long didn't seem the type to go from being an absolutely unbearable witch, to a girl who bought things off the internet, had _tickle_ fights with Timmy, and was an apparently _pleasant_ person to be around.

"I- ...I guess I would..." The brunet at last turned away from his friend, his body facing the TV, but his gaze turned down toward his lap, a thoughtful expression visible on his face. To Timmy, his admittedly strange friend/kinship with Vicky had not happened overnight. It had taken years, many adventures, arguments, near-death experiences, and even a couple encounters that might be called 'dates'. Most of which the red-head(thankfully) did not remember, yet he did, and those memories were part of the driving force behind his(eventually) becoming friends with her.

Still, Chester had rarely been a part of those adventures, and thus Timmy's best friend almost assuredly remembered even less than Vicky did, if any of them at all. With that in mind, how _could_ the brunet expect his best friend to believe him unquestioningly? The very idea seemed outlandish at best!

" _Agh... Maybe if I can convince Vicky to..."_ An idea popped into the twelve year old's mind, making his eyes widen slightly. Chester and Vicky, for all their differences, _were_ both his friends. And they were _both_ in the same house, about to be in the same _room_ for at least a few hours. And _Timmy_ was someone who'd fought alien races, interdimensional beings, saved an entire _world_ of magical creatures, gone back _and_ forward in time on numerous occasions, and even made friends with the very same girl who enslaved the human race in one possible future! All this was was getting his best friend and their babysitter to get along! How hard could that be, after all the things he'd been through?

Timmy snapped his fingers, confident he knew what he had to do. "Alright, I got it!" He beamed excitedly at Chester, who did little more than offer a nervous, questioning smile in return. "You stay here, I'mma go talk to Vicky, ask her to prove that she's not as evil as you think, and you two are gonna be friends!"

"...Eh... Timmy?" The blond looked at his best friend as if he'd just sprouted two additional heads. "No offense, but could you... Say that again? I think I had something crazy in my ear..." Chester stuck his pinky into his right ear, then wiggled it about a few times.

"Trust me, by the time you have to head back to your place, you and Vicky are gonna be like this!" The tween put his index fingers together, a wide smile still evident on his face.

"But like, right _now_?!" Again, Chester could hardly believe what he was hearing. He'd barely escaped the demon known as Vicky less than an hour ago, and not only had his(supposedly) best friend invited her up to hang out with them, but he was apparently about to cut the wait short and go get her right now! "Why not wait... I dunno, 'til she's ready to come up? Or until tomorrow? Or never? Never sounds good to me..."

"Chester, seriously. Chill." Timmy hopped to his feet and made his way around the couch, then over to his bedroom door. The brunet turned away from his friend and faced the door as his fingers wrapped around the knob and turned it. "Vicky isn't that bad-" He pulled the door open as he spoke, but cut off his own statement as his blue eyes fell upon the very subject of their conversation.

Vicky, with her right hand raised in the air in front of her and balled into a fist, and her left holding up a pair of pizza boxes stacked on top of each other, stood just outside the doorway into Timmy's room, momentarily caught off guard by the door she was about to knock on opening rather suddenly. Her eyes drifted down to look at the room's owner, who quickly got over his own shock and smiled up at the red-head.

Looking up, she also caught sight of his blond friend, who was now peeking over the couch at her, eyes wide with either fear or surprise, she couldn't tell. _"Crap. Scaring Blondie is definitely out of the picture now..."_ "Um... Hey." Vicky unclenched her fist, then gave the brunet and his friend an awkward wave.

"I was just about to come get you!" Once again, Timmy beamed at his babysitter excitedly. _"Literally could not have timed that better, Vicky."_ The boy thought to himself, knowing he'd have to find some way to pay the older girl back, even if she didn't currently know how she'd helped him.

"You were?" _"Duh, of course he was. Twerp's impatient, and you promised him quality time..."_ Vicky felt her cheeks heat up slightly. The feeling of the two twelve year olds staring at her expectantly making her feel a little... Exposed.

Somehow.

"Well... I figured you two would be... Hungry, so..." The pink-eyed girl turned her head to the right, breaking any chance of eye contact with the two boys as she felt heat continue to bloom across her cheeks. "You... Gonna invite me in, or...?"

Without missing a beat, Chester spoke up, the blond's normal logic and reason having already left, apparently. "You a vampire now? Since when have you asked permission to come into anywhere?"

Vicky glared at the McBadbat boy out of the corner of her eye. "Just trying to be ni- ...Respectful." She finished through gritted teeth. It was going to be a _long_ gaming session if Chester was going to spend it trying to antagonize her. "But stick around, I _am_ pretty thirsty..." She grinned as her comment made the blond dip back down a couple inches, leaving just his eyes and the top of his head to peek over the back of the couch at her. _"Yup. Still got it."_

"So... You wanna come in?" Timmy broke the silence that had been brought on by Vicky's mildly threatening response, hoping to ease a bit of the sudden tension. "Or did you just get two pizzas for yourself?"

She felt the corners of her lips turn up into a small grin, then refocused her attention on the boy in front of her. "It was pretty tempting to just leave you two waiting while I stuffed my face in the living room... But I think I can share." Vicky moved past Timmy, pizza boxes still in hand. "Blondie! You like anchovies, right?"

The brunet closed his door and butted his forehead against it, listening as Chester offered their babysitter a meek response of 'I dunno'. "Yep, this'll be a walk in the park..." He mumbled out as he spun around and headed back over to the couch.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Caution, the following chapter may contain high levels of sweetness and/or sugary feels. The author is not responsible for any Diabetes or cavities that may occur.

* * *

"So!" The red-head vaulted over the back of the couch, nearly landing on a plate of nachos sitting on the middle couch cushion, but was prevented from doing so by Chester's quick thinking as he yanked it into his lap. Vicky, however; ignored this, opting instead to throw her right arm across the back of the couch and look over her shoulder at Timmy, who was slowly making his way back over to his own seat.

"Yeah?" The brunet plopped back down onto the couch, just now noticing that Vicky had apparently taken her shoes off downstairs, her feet only covered by black socks. His gaze drifted over to the couch's third occupant, Chester; who appeared to be pressing himself into his arm of the couch, doing his best to put as much distance between himself and his ex-babysitter as possible.

"What are we-" Vicky paused and looked at Timmy, then followed his gaze over to her left, her eyes falling upon the form of Chester, who appeared to be shying away from her, the plate of nachos being held in a protective manner. "There an... Issue, Blondie?"

"You're eh... Here." Chester began in a low tone of voice, and gulped as he finished. "Reddie."

"I am." Vicky nodded slowly, almost as if she was trying to avoid provoking a cornered animal, and didn't want to make any sudden moves. "And that doesn't work as well when you do it, _Blondie_."

"Why not use my real name then?" Chester continued to watch the eighteen year old carefully. He wasn't quite ready to believe that he and his best friend were out of the woods just yet. Vicky seemed to love lulling the kids she babysat into a false sense of security, only to strike without warning, just to see how they'd react!

"Hm? Don't appreciate the affectionate little nicknames I give you and the Twerp, Braces?" Vicky quirked an eyebrow up at the blond twelve year old. He was clearly still afraid that she might do something... Well, Vicky-like, but the boy had evidently become emboldened in their time apart, that is, the past few months where she hadn't babysat him.

"I- I don't even have braces!" Chester shot back in annoyance, baring his teeth and pointing at them as he finished. "I got them taken out last year..."

"So I see." She spoke in an _almost_ impressed-sounding tone and leaned in just a bit. "Still... You've still got the blond hair, so to me, you're _still_ Blondie."

"But I can't-! What am I-! You-... Urgh... Nevermind..." Chester shook his head tiredly and set the plate he'd been guarding down between himself and Vicky.

"Good." Vicky pulled her legs up onto the couch, bending them at the knee so she could sit cross-legged while her hands gripped her ankles. "Now that _that's_ out of the way... Twerp? You invited me up, what're we playing?"

"Why _did_ you invite her up anyway?" Chester interjected, shooting his friend a look of betrayal. "Your bedroom door is the only thing between the two of us and her, and you just decide to _invite_ her in here?!" The blond nearly shouted at Timmy, his acceptance of the situation already beginning to wear away due to the female presence in the room.

"Well I-" Timmy began, only to be cut off as he heard a small giggle from Vicky.

"Heheh... You make it sound like that door would stop me from coming in here... That's cute, Blondie." Despite her statement, Vicky kept her tone light and friendly, even going so far as to lean back and relax, so as not to appear threatening in anyway. "And the Twerp invited me up here because, obviously, I'm a lot of fun to be around. Or did you forget I brought pizza?" She released her left ankle, then extended her leg to tap on the pizza boxes sitting on the table in front of the couch.

"S-see?!" The blond boy stared across the couch at his best friend while gesturing at the girl that he _thought_ was their natural enemy. "She's just... Just trying to make us _think_ she's nice, then she'll... I dunno! Smash your games! Or... Destroy your room and make us clean it! She's even still calling you _Twerp_! You _hate_ being called Twerp!" Chester was practically seething at this point. What hadn't he witnessed during those times where it had been just Timmy and the vile red-head? Was she holding something over the brunet's head that he just couldn't tell him about? Had she somehow brainwashed his best friend? Had the years of mental torture finally broken Timmy to the point that he had just accepted Vicky's behavior...?

Or was it something deeper than that? Were Timmy and Vicky actually putting aside their differences and pretending to be friends? Just to mess with him? _"But why would they-_ Timmy _do that? We've pranked each other here and there, but something like this?"_ The only other possibility that Chester could fathom was that this outlandish tale was somehow the truth. That his best friend had somehow found _something_ in the red-head that made him actually _want_ to be friends with her!

"Well... I mean, that was before... And stuff." Timmy glanced away, the feeling of his cheeks heating up returning as he twiddled his fingers nervously. "I... It's not like I _like_ being called a Twerp by people... Just... I guess I'm used to Vicky doing it, y'know? When Vicky-" The brunet paused and turned to his left, remembering that the subject of their current discussion was sitting less than a foot away from him. "When _you_ call me Twerp... It just doesn't bother me, I guess?" Timmy quickly realized it felt somehow odd to admit this fact to his babysitter, especially so with his best friend only a few feet away. Not necessarily _bad_ , just strange, like a mild warmth in his chest.

" _Just hug him, you know you want to."_ It was Vicky's turn to blush as her unfiltered thoughts made themselves known. Unbeknownst to Timmy, he wasn't the only one feeling a slight warm feeling in his chest. The boy had managed to surprise her once more, this time with something so simple as _accepting_ her little nickname for him. A nickname that had started out as nothing but an insult. "Maybe later..." Rather than go through with what her mind was very sternly telling her to do, the pink-eyed girl reached out with her right hand, letting it gently come to rest on top of Timmy's head before ruffling his hair affectionately.

"M-Maybe later... What?" The boy looked up from below his babysitter's hand questioningly.

"Hm? Ah... Just thinking out loud." Vicky shrugged off Timmy's question as she pulled away and returned her hand to her lap.

"Oh God, just kiss already!" Chester exclaimed over a gag, his face twisted into a cringe of disgust at his own words.

"Augh! That's not-! She's like, _six_ years older than me!" "Why would you even say something like-" Timmy and Vicky spoke at the same time, expressing similar disgust at the blond boy's joking suggestion.

"Well what do you want? You two are sitting here, staring into each others eyes, and then she messes up your hair like that with a big grin on her face? Seemed like you two _would've_ kissed if I stayed quiet!" Despite a mixture of fear, annoyance, and disgust plaguing his mind just a few moments ago, Chester managed a wide grin of his own now. Even if his life was about to end from Vicky showing her true colors, it would all be worth it after his little jab at both her and Timmy.

"Grr..." The red-head facepalmed, using her thumb and index finger to rub at her eyes, then brought the two digits together to pinch the bridge of her nose. "You keep this up, _Blondie_ , and I just might have _stop_ being nice. And if that happens, we're gonna find out if a twelve year old smartass can keep joking with a pillow shoved down his throat!"

"I dunno, Red. Think Timmy might not like you doing that to his best friend; right, dude?" Chester peeked around Vicky, hoping to see his brunet-haired friend agreeing with him, only to meet a flat expression from the tween, one eyebrow raised.

"After what you just said? Chester, you'll be lucky if I don't _help_ Vicky with the pillow!"

"Ouch. Thanks for nothing, man. Whatever happened to bros before h-" The blond paused as he received a disapproving stare from Vicky. "Haha... B-babysitters? I was gonna say babysitters..."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you were, no way you'd say something _dumb_ about me; right, _Chester_?"

"Y-Yeah, I wouldn't-" Chester cut himself off as he stared at Vicky, his eyes going wide again. "Wh-What... What did you just call me?"

"Hm? Your name. That's what you've been asking; right, Chester?" Vicky's lips curled up into a devilish smile as her ex-charge visibly went from confident to nervous in a heartbeat, all from her just saying his name.

And while Chester was doing his best(and failing) to maintain his composure, the brunet on the other side of the couch was similarly attempting to do the same, though in Timmy's case, it was more to keep from laughing than to keep from showing any fear towards his babysitter.

"I-Uh... I'd rather you just call me 'Blondie', now that I think about it..." There was an audible gulp in Chester's throat as he again looked across the couch at Timmy for support, only to see his friend's face screwed up somewhere between an amused smile and a frown.

The red-head turned her head back over toward Timmy's side of the couch, easily being able to tell that the boy was about to lose it and break into a fit of laughter at their little game. "Indecisive, isn't he?" Vicky nodded her head in Chester's direction while keeping her gaze on Timmy. "I mean, first he wants me to stop calling him Blondie, so I call him Braces, _then_ he wants me to call him Chester, gets all and when I don't, but as soon as I do, he acts all scared and _wants_ me to call him Blondie again! I just can't win!"

"Aha-Alright, I think we can stop messing around now, Vicky." Timmy spoke between giggles, occasionally covering his mouth when one escaped it. "See Chester? Vicky's fun to be around... Usually-Ah! V-Vicky!" The buck-toothed boy soon found himself in a headlock, a slender arm looped around his neck while his captor's free arm drove the knuckles of its hand into the top of his head.

" _Usually_?" Vicky growled out, but the effect was lost as she still bore a grin on her face. "You wanna try that again, Twerp? I'm _usually_ nice?! What about this pizza I got you and Blondie? What about that M-rated game you wanted for your birthday? The one your parents wouldn't get you because it was _too violent_? Ringing any bells up there?"

"Ah! Q-quit it! I was only-Ow! Only joking-g-g!" Despite his apparently pained cries, there was a rather wide smile on Timmy's face as well, marred as it was by the grimace brought on by his current predicament.

Meanwhile, Chester simply couldn't make heads or tails of the situation he'd been thrust into. What had started out as a normal day for himself and Timmy had quickly gone from just that, to a nightmare situation, to a downright _bizarre_ one. Where had their _actually_ evil babysitter gone? 'Cause this girl was definitely _not_ her. Why was she noogie-ing Timmy instead of... Of strangling him?!

The blond squinted his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples, feeling a headache coming on from all the information being unceremoniously dumped into his brain. "Ugh... Guys?" Chester peeked open his right eye to find that the little wrestling match going on next to him had ended, the two participants frozen in the middle of their match, eyes now focused on him alone. "I think... my brain needs a little while to process... Everything that's happening. You two being friends and... And I guess _we're_ friends now too, right?" The boy opened both eyes and focused on Vicky, who offered little more than a shrug.

"Dunno. If you can handle not calling me evil at every waking moment, I suppose we could give it a shot-Ew!" The red-head uncoiled her arm from around Timmy's neck and shoved him away as she felt something warm and wet on it. "Really?! You're gonna lick my arm just to get me to let go of you?!"

Timmy shrugged, tongue still out and pointed at Vicky. "Woked, didn'p ip?"

"I'm gonna-" The red-head moved as if she was about to capture the brunet in another headlock, but thought better of it after less than a second of thought. "Mm..." She turned back toward Chester, noticing the pillow his arm rested on. "So you're heading out? Not gonna stick around to get your ass handed to you by a girl in Smash?"

"Eheh... Maybe some other time, Red. My brain feels fried after today." The blond hopped off the couch and into his shoes, watching as his ex-babysitter grabbed the pillow he'd been using. "What're you-"

"Don't need a ride back to your place then?" Vicky interrupted, subtly drawing both Chester and Timmy's attention away from the pillow she just grabbed.

"Uh... No? My place is only a couple blocks down the street anyway, and it'll be light out for a bit longer."

"Whatevs." With her prize in hand, Vicky nonchalantly whipped the pillow to her right with both arms, swiftly crashing it into Timmy's face with an audible 'whump', and making feathers shoot out of it from the impact. "Don't say I never offered, Blondie."

Chester winced as he heard the pillow connect with his best friend's face. Even with it being something so soft, the noise; coupled with the fact that the pillow was now _stuck_ to Timmy's face, showed that Vicky had gone all out with her swing. "You two... Aren't gonna ki-"

"No! We're not gonna kiss if you leave!" Vicky again cut Chester off, her face beginning to redden enough to rival her hair. "Is that all you Twerps think about? Making out with your-admittedly very attractive-babysitter?! Get a hobby!" She laughed as both Chester and Timmy blushed and looked away from her in obvious embarrassment.

"I was..." The blond scratched at his nose nervously. "Gonna say _kill_ , but now that you mention _that_..." Another annoyed look from Vicky made Chester clam up, his gaze drifting over to the mostly uneaten plate of nachos and thus, a safer conversation topic. "Hey Timmy! Mind if I... Take the nachos home?" He quickly reached for them and snatched the plate away as he saw Vicky beginning to reach for it.

"Sure, grab some pizza too, if you want." Timmy's voice came out muffled due to the pillow currently attached to it, making the young brunet yank it off his face.

"Cool, I'll just grab a-" Chester opened the top pizza box, only to nearly bite his tongue and recoil at what he saw. "Ugh! Someone put dead fish on your pizza!" The boy took a step back, once again holding the plate of cheese-covered chips protectively. "And... Ate half of it?"

As if on cue, Vicky burped in response to Chester's observation. "Alright, so I brought you two one and a _half_ pizzas..." Feeling two pairs of blue eyes still on her, the red-head scratched at her nose, a light blush blooming across it and her cheeks. "Girl's gotta eat."

"But _anchovies_?! Why ruin such a perfect thing like pizza with something so... Eugh?! They're _dead_ fish! Nearly _whole_ dead fish!" The blond shot the eighteen year old a look of disgust, almost as if every other crazy thing that happened today paled in comparison to this, a disagreement over pizza toppings.

"So... Not a fan then?" Timmy reached forward, grabbing a slice of the apparently inedible pizza for himself.

"Ack! Dude?! No!" Chester covered his eyes with his free hand as Timmy bit into the fishy pizza slice. "I- I can't-! You're-" His gaze fell upon Vicky again, her eyes practically sparkling with glee at his horrified expression. "S-Stop corrupting my best friend!"

"Corrupting?" The girl questioned in an amused tone, her right eyebrow raised as if to ask 'Really?' "Well..." Vicky leaned over toward Timmy, close enough so she could loop her arm around his shoulders, then pulled him into her side. "Maybe a little... But I like to think of it as broadening his horizons. Nothing wrong with that; right, Twerp?"

Timmy, now with a mouth full of pizza, simply nodded in agreement.

"Agh! I feel like I must've walked into one of those alternate dimension thingies that AJ's always talking about!" Chester rapidly shook his head back and forth in a vain effort to wrap his brain around what had to be the craziest day of his life. "You-" He pointed at Vicky. "-Being nice, and _you_ -" Then at Timmy. "-Telling me _this_ is the _real_ Vicky?! And eating _that_... Urgh..."

"You sure you don't need a ride home, Blondie? You look a little pale." Though she spoke in a concerned tone, Vicky's evil grin remained. _"This is_ way _more fun than pretending to be evil! Poor kid's about to lose it!"_

"N-Nah, I think I'll manage..." Chester used his free hand to rub at his forehead as he walked toward Timmy's bedroom door. Upon reaching it, the blond pulled it open, the turned back toward the couch. "Er... I guess I'll catch you later, Timmy?"

"Mm-hm!" Timmy hummed out as he swallowed his food and peeked over the back of the couch. "Yeah, gimme a call tomorrow if you wanna hang out!"

" _Think I might need a bit longer than one night to figure all this out..."_ Chester thought as he began to leave. "I'll... Uh... See what my dad's up to-"

"Hey! Don't forget about me, Blondie! We're friends now too!" Vicky's head joined Timmy's as she too looked over the back of the couch at Chester. "You wanna hang out with my Twerp here, you're gonna have to share him with me!"

"Yay..." Chester muttered as he closed the door, then made his way down the hall and over to the stairs. _"Those two... If messing with me is their idea of fun... What did I just get myself into...?"_

 _In Timmy's room..._

The brunet and his red-haired companion sat in silence, waiting until they heard the telltale sound of the house's front door open and close before both erupted into a fit of subdued giggling. "Ahaha! That-! _That_ was more fun than anything evil I could've done to either of you! Oh man, his _face_ when you bit into the pizza! I should've taken a picture! Heheha!"

"Heehee! I know!" Timmy dropped his pizza slice down onto the box as another wave of laughter hit him, making him tip over and collide with Vicky's right side. "It's too- Heh... Too bad we couldn't get him to stay though, Chester's always beating me when we play together, but I bet you would've surprised him!"

"That an admission that I'm better than you at video games, Twerp? Sure sounded like one..." With her charge's friend now out of the room and heading home, Vicky remembered a certain action she'd wanted to take earlier, and managed to force her laughter down into a slight chuckle. "By the way..."

"Eheh... Yeah, Vicky?" The brunet looked up at the girl from his awkward position, the top of his head pressing into her ribs.

"You really don't mind me calling you Twerp, Timmy?" With some effort, the pink-eyed girl was able to put on a semi-serious face, though the cute smile on Timmy's face was making it just a _little_ difficult.

"Well..." The brunet paused, tapping his index fingers together in thought. "We're friends, right?"

" _Friends?"_ When was the last time she could honestly say she had a real friend? Sure, there were those girls in her... What had she called it when she was younger? Her Babysitting Club? But those girls... It was more than obvious they were merely trying to stay on her good side. They were no more friends than Timmy was a bad kid. Still... Her old relationship with Timmy was in the past. If she confirmed what he assumed, then that would... Bury the hatchet, right? Even just a few moments ago, calling Blondie her 'friend' had been a jest, something along the lines of not wanting to be left out. This though, this was different. It made that warm, strangely pleasant feeling in her chest come back.

Timmy pushed himself back up into his earlier sitting position next to Vicky and eyed her curiously. "Vicky? We _are_ , aren't we?"

"I... Guess so?" She admitted hesitantly, almost awkwardly. "You sure you wanna be friends with... Me?" Vicky found herself wishing she could go back in time, even just a few minutes earlier, before their relationship required some sort of label.

"Of course I do!" Timmy beamed at his babysitter happily. "Ever since we first met, I've always wanted to be friends with you!" The brunet bounced up and down on the couch in excitement, reminding the red-head of the eight year old she'd met just over four years ago.

"Um... Okay then...? Y-Yeah, friends- Agh!" Vicky was interrupted by a pinkish blur crashing into her and wrapping it's arms around her waist. For several seconds, she honestly didn't know what to do, and simply sat there. "Er... T-Timmy?" Her eyes gave the room a quick once-over, just to make sure there wasn't anyone to witness this sudden display of affection, though this did not stop her cheeks from heating up with a nearly luminescent blush. "A-Alright... C'mon, quit it! You're getting your affection all over me!" Vicky half-heartedly attempted to push the boy off her, to little avail. "Ugh... I dunno _why_ I'm surprised that you're clingy..." With a sigh of defeat, she ceased her struggling, opting instead to gently ruffle Timmy's hair. "But..."

Upon hearing her pause, Timmy looked up to meet her gaze, his own silent and questioning.

"Y-You're a good kid, so... If you keep your mouth shut-!" Vicky glared daggers at the boy before she continued, knowing it would get her point across. "I guess I can let this slide..."

Timmy's response was simply to hug the girl tighter.


End file.
